ADCOLOR shines a light on how far the industry has come, as well as how far it has to go to truly acknowledge the current multicultural audience that consumes goods and media. [The conference] made clear that people of color, both established and up-and-coming, are doing great work every day—as they have for decades.

Melville remains optimistic that the ad and tech industries will continue to move forward, if not as quickly or decisively as many would like. “Diversity is not easy; It’s not a simple fix because there are so many small, different pieces like pay, access and geography,” he said. “[But] 50 percent of everyone in America under 34 years old is multicultural. We’re making the media and the message, and we’re driving purchase decisions. This is the audience of the future.”